Tenebroso
by gingeringfigs
Summary: Having obtained what he desires, Minato keeps a stranglehold of his most precious treasure, Naruto. Should Naruto be taken away from him, Minato will gladly burn the world down in his dark madness. Is there an end to the nightmare? Sequel to Chiaroscuro, Part II of Consanguinéta
1. Chapter 1

**Warnings:** Dub-con, incest, violence  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. This fic plot belongs to me and it is non-profit.  
**A/N:** I strongly suggest you read the prequel "Chiaroscuro" first so that you understand what's actually happening here in "Tenebroso". I also advise readers to read the warnings first before actually reading the fic because it's definitely not for the squeamish or the faint-hearted. Don't say that I didn't warn you!

* * *

**Tenebroso 1**  


"You're dismissed. Naruto, stay behind please."

The group of jounin nodded and obediently left the office to see their respective genin teams and inform them of the upcoming Chuunin Exams. Once everyone had left, Minato activated the security seals on his office. He smiled at Naruto and said nonchalantly, "It seems that your genin team is progressing quite well. They've already completed quite a number of C and D missions as well as one or two B missions. Well done."

Naruto remained silent, his expression bemused. He wasn't sure what Minato was driving at. Suddenly, Minato was behind him, standing so close that he could feel his breath on the back of his neck. Naruto started - he still kept getting being surprised again and again by Minato's superior speed despite having known him for a few years. Minato spoke, "Apparently… your students are getting quite attached to you… Especially the girl Yamada Atsuko who has a crush on you if her moon-eyed looks towards you are any indication. Rather unsubtle and unskilful behaviour for a kunoichi-to-be."

"It's just a phase. She's just having a bad case of hero worship. I mean, our exploits during the Third War are pretty well known and now are part of the Academy curriculum-" Naruto's heart was beating fast in the suddenly tense atmosphere. What the hell was Minato going on about…?

"Perhaps you're right. Atsuko is still young and doesn't know any better." Minato thoughtfully replied. Naruto relaxed fractionally and he soon regretted his mistake when he found himself suddenly on his back. Thick piles of paper did little to cushion the back of his head from the hard wooden surface and the area where his back had hit the edge of the table throbbed painfully. Luckily, it was more from shock than from pain that he yelled, "Ow! What the fuck?!"

His hands on either side of Naruto's head, Minato leaned over him with a dark look in his eyes that made him shiver. Naruto swallowed nervously, seeing that the Hokage was in a really foul mood, his deep blue eyes stormy and dark.

"I don't like it when people look at you covetously. It's not just Atsuko, you know. Most of the women in this village or outside do it as well. I've even noticed some men checking you out. I _hate_ it."

Naruto couldn't help but smile as he realised why Minato was so moody. He gently cupped Minato's cheek and said, "So that's why you're so on edge… Don't worry; I would never ever leave you."

"Don't even think about it." Minato's eyes flashed darkly as he growled. He felt ill at the thought of Naruto being touched by someone else other him. He could not bear the very thought of losing him. He would go _mad_ if it actually happened. Naruto softly replied, "I wouldn't even dream of it. Not even once."

Minato nipped his jaw-line in response, eliciting a startled moan that pleased him very much. Naruto squirmed and gasped beneath him as he licked and bit the younger man's neck. Then remembering where they currently were (not that hard when he glimpsed the photos of the previous Hokages seemingly staring down at them disapprovingly from the wall), Naruto pushed him off with a yelp, "H-hold on a minute! We can't do this here in the office!"

"Just whose office do you think this is?" Minato rhetorically asked with a raised eyebrow.

"…_Um._"

"Exactly."

When no more protests were forthcoming, Minato took the opportunity to push Naruto back down onto his large table, sweeping the miscellanea aside to make room. He swiftly kissed Naruto who gave in after a mere few seconds with a throaty moan. One kiss became two, three and four until they had to break for air. His cheeks flushed with exertion and his eyes hazy, Naruto muttered dazedly, "What's with you today? You're really intense."

Minato's answering smile had a hint of feral edge to it. He pulled down the zipper of Naruto's vest and then he put his hand on his stomach and slowly dragged it upwards, pushing the protective fishnet armour and the dark blue shirt up to expose Naruto's chest and stomach. Trailing his fingers along the faint exotic tattoo that resembled one of the famous Uzumaki seals on Naruto's stomach, Minato calmly said as though he was commenting on the weather, "I'm only reinforcing the fact that you're mine."

At hearing the possessive and lustful words, a jolt of shocked lust zapped through Naruto. He hadn't been expecting this and his cheeks turned even redder than before. His body was suddenly warm and it felt like fire when Minato touched his bare skin. The area around his navel where the defunct seal was located was particularly hypersensitive, reacting to every Minato's touch. He tensed as Minato bent down to lick his skin, the sensation feeling going straight to his cock.

"Take off your pants."

Naruto hesitated, his eyes flicking to the portraits on the wall before Minato distracted him with another kiss. He asked sharply, "Did you not hear what I just said?"

Naruto hastily demurred, "I'm sorry. I just don't feel comfortable with the Hokages on the wall…"

"Is that so…?"

Minato glanced at the portraits and with a careless sweep of his arm, he sent out a strong gust of wind that sent them loudly crashing to the floor, shattering glass and splintering wood. Naruto flinched.

"Problem solved. Is this better?"

"…I guess so."

Naruto began to slowly take off his pants and as an after-thought, pulled his shoes off. Minato's eyes darkened with lust and he smiled approvingly. As soon as his pants hit the floor, he was pressed down again to the table beneath Minato's weight. Naruto gasped when he felt a thigh move in between his legs to rub against his groin. His hips dulated as he rubbed himself against Minato.

Stretching over his head, Minato opened a drawer and retrieved a small tube of lubricant that he kept in his office for occasions like this. Without preamble, he flipped the lid open and squeezed out a generous dollop of cool gel into his palm. After slicking his fingers, he gently pressed the tip of one finger into Naruto. He tensed and squirmed, muttering, "It's _cold_!"

Minato chuckled and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth to distract him as he gently slid in another finger. Naruto made an unintelligible noise, his eyes flying shut as he gripped onto Minato's shoulders, his knuckles white. He moaned as Minato scissored his fingers, stretching him, the intimate experience beginning to arouse him. The illicit thrill of doing it in the Hokage Office also excited him.

When Minato's fingers began to move more easily, sliding in and out of Naruto with minimal effort, he inserted a third finger, evoking a hitched breath from him. He stilled, wary of accidentally hurting Naruto despite the younger man's healing factor. He asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah... I'm fine." Naruto gritted out through his teeth as he bucked his hips, trying to get the fingers deeper so they would hit that spot inside him. The slight burn of his stretched entrance added fuel to his arousal. He grunted in frustration when his hips were held still as a reassured Minato quickly finished preparing him.

Naruto required more care and preparation because no matter how many times they fucked, his healing factor always ensured that he was as tight as a virgin the next time they fucked, much to his amazement and slight chagrin (it was a bit annoying having to repeat the stretching process every single time but he didn't want to hurt Naruto).

Before he realised that the preparation was over, Minato was already in between his spread legs and pinning him down to the table. He held his breath when he felt a familiar hot pressure nudging his entrance. In the next moment, he was quickly and forcefully breached, the friction barely eased by the lubricant. Reflexively clenching down on Minato's cock, Naruto arched his back, biting his lip to stifle his startled cry as he clenched his hands into fists. That had stung like a bitch but it did little to diminish his arousal.

Minato refrained from moving his hips, waiting for Naruto to adjust. But he didn't have to bother as Naruto eagerly wrapped his legs around his hips and pulled him in even deeper. He stifled a groan and tightened his grip on slim hipbones beneath him. Naruto breathlessly said, "I'm not fragile glass. Have you already forgotten what I'm capable of, Minato?"

* * *

No, he hadn't forgotten. It was hard to forget that his lover beneath him was actually one of the strongest ninjas in Konoha, being a Sage, Kage Bunshin master and having the largest chakra stores and stamina he had ever seen. His exploits during the Third War were the stuff of legends. "Operation Yellow" had been an especially dangerous solo mission; so dangerous that it could be called suicidal, insane or even impossible.

Its objective was to infiltrate Iwa as a decoy "Yellow Flash" with an "army" in a long-term capacity to distract them from the real Yellow Flash and Konoha's forces elsewhere. He accomplished the mission with flying colours with his thousands of shadow clones and skills.

Minato thought that it was probably around the time he saw a victorious and battle-weary Naruto returning to Konoha after the long war that he'd fallen out of love with Kushina and instead fell for him unknowingly. Naruto's bright smile on his dirty face stood out vividly in his memory. He thought that he must have been an incredible fool not to realise his feelings sooner and act on them even sooner. Kushina with her green eyes was a distant memory as he looked into Naruto's bright blue eyes that were like a mirror to his.

He growled, "You're _mine_." before he started fucking Naruto into the table so hard that if he did it with more force, they would have broken the table. He pressed hard biting kisses to the curve of his neck and wherever he could reach; leaving vivid red marks on tanned skin that would bruise. He wrapped his hands in a bruising grip around Naruto's hips as he thrust deep into his body. Naruto barely could breathe as pleasure mingled with pain ripped through him. Ignoring the annoying pens and papers that were digging into his skin between his shoulders and having no leverage in his position, he could only hang on and take Minato's violent thrusts with breathless gasps.

He was fairly certain that he was going to end up with a lot of strange imprints and paper cuts aside from the usual hickeys, finger-shaped bruises and bite-marks from Minato. But it wouldn't matter at the end of the day when his healing factor healed him. Right now, he was too busy having the living daylights screwed out of him to be able to think beyond his urgent need.

Then Minato raised his hips at an angle and bent him in double, allowing him to penetrate even deeper and slam into his prostrate. Colourful lights exploding in his vision, Naruto fisted his hands, accidentally crumpling and tearing a few reports as he cursed unintelligibly.

Minato breathlessly chuckled, his deep voice vibrating through Naruto. Naruto's head limply dropped back to the table with a dull thud as the vibrations went through his body, stimulating his sensitive cock. He didn't dare to lift his hand to his cock because he was too busy holding onto the edge of the desk to prevent from being pushed off by Minato's forceful thrusts. However, he did scream when Minato bit him hard on his neck in a certain spot, a spike of pleasure electrifying his nerves. Naruto was so close…!

Minato lifted his head to glance briefly at his work and was pleased to see a small familiar spiral seal flicker into existence. It was still working. Aside from that, his lover was quite the feast for the eyes, looking completely debauched beneath him with a rosy flush on his cheeks and glazed blue eyes that reminded of a hot cloudless summer sky.

It sent a thrill through him to see his marks on Naruto's smooth skin in such an intimate fashion. It meant that Naruto was his and he planned to keep it that way for a very long time. He would not tire of him like he had with Kushina. Feeling his peak approaching, Minato picked up his speed and Naruto wailed, his hot and willing body tightening around him.

Finally hitting his peak, Minato thrust as deeply as he could into Naruto with a hiss as he spilled his seed into him. Overwhelmed, Naruto climaxed, stifling a moan in Minato's shoulder as he clenched around him and staining their shirts with his sticky semen.

* * *

Minato checked over his appearance one more time. When he was satisfied that he didn't look like a mess, he deactivated the security seals. Naruto continued to sprawl limply on his desk, his chest heaving in exertion and his eyes closed. He was almost completely nude with only his fishnet armour half-on. Vivid red bite-marks littered his tanned skin, clustering on the curve of his neck. Purple finger-shaped bruises were starting to form on his hips and thighs. Naruto's voice was husky from the screams Minato had wrung out of him as he tiredly stated, "I'm going to feel it for _hours_."

An illicit thrill went through him as he saw his marks on Naruto's smooth skin in such an intimate fashion. His gaze lingered on a white streak that was smeared on a sweaty inner thigh. Lustful desire stirred faintly at the extremely erotic sight. Forcefully suppressing the temptation to go for another round, Minato offered, "I can take you home if you are too tired to move."

Naruto propped himself up on his elbows and looked at him with an exhausted smile before sliding off the table to get dressed. As he wobbly searched for his pants, he replied, "Thanks for the kind offer. But I've got to meet my genin team to inform them of their participation in the Chuunin Exams. I'm already extremely late because of you."

Minato felt a flicker of displeasure at the reminder of Atsuko. He walked over to Naruto and pulled his face up to kiss him deeply before simply saying, "Alright. I wish your genin team the best of luck in the upcoming Chuunin Exams. I'll see you later."

"Thanks. My genin team will appreciate it." Fully dressed within minutes, Naruto finally tied on his hitai-ate and smiled back at him before walking out of the door with a slight limp. Once he was gone, Minato smirked darkly. The Chuunin Exams were going to be very interesting indeed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Warnings:** Dub-con, incest, violence  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. This fic plot belongs to me and it is non-profit.

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**Tenebroso 2  
**

The second part of the Chuunin Exams had officially started. Yamada Astuko, aspiring Chuunin-to-be and member of Team Naruto, was feeling nervous as she carefully navigated the thick underbrush of the Forest of Death. She was trying to reach the rendezvous point where she was supposed to meet her teammates. She finally reached a clearing with a small stream running through it. Atsuko checked the map in her hands once more and confirmed that she had finally reached the rendezvous point. In the distance over the trees, she could see the Tower. Now, she just had to wait for her teammates to show up.

Atsuko nervously put her hand in her pouch to check that the scroll she was carrying was still safe. The papery stiff surface reassured her that it was still safe though it did little to soothe her rising anxiety. Her teammate Tomo Oita was supposed to be the decoy while her other teammate Ueda Mokutou covered him and obtain the Heaven scroll to the Earth scroll that she now carried. Atsuko wasn't as a good fighter as Mokutou nor was she as sly as Oita but she could run and hide very well.

"I hope that they arrive soon. I also really, really _hope_ that no enemies show up here…" She muttered to herself.

Atsuko jumped when she heard a branch break. She immediately hid in a tree, her heart pounding as she watched out for any enemies. After a few minutes and nothing happened, Atsuko cautiously crawled out of her hiding place, feeling foolish when she saw a squirrel dash in front of her.

"…It was just a squirrel."

Suddenly she felt an overwhelming chakra presence that was so powerful it suffocated her. And with it, there was such pure concentrated killing intent all directed at her; it felt like it was eviscerating her. Gasping and collapsing to her knees, Atsuko thought she was going to have a heart attack. Barely staying coherent, she grabbed a kunai from her pouch in clammy, numb fingers and turned around in a crouch to face the enemy. She paled at who she saw and stammered, "…W-why a-are you here?!"

His voice was as cold as the Arctic. "You know why."

Before she could react, her mind suddenly felt like it was being torn apart. Her kunai clattered to the ground as she gripped her head. It was an excruciating agony and she could do nothing to stop it. She blacked out.

* * *

"I'm sorry but Yamada Atsuko is no longer fit for active duty. She is too severely damaged by the unknown genjutsu she was placed under. My sincere condolences, sir." The doctor regretfully said to Naruto. Still reeling with shock from the news, he asked with a desperate hope, "She'll recover, won't she?"

"…That, I cannot answer. It's a miracle that your student is still alive from the trauma she went through. This unknown attack was so stressful on her psyche that it actually caused a stroke. It's a very slim chance that Atsuko will recover from her catatonia, not to mention her future career as a shinobi. If Tsunade-sama was here, she might be able to give you a better prognosis. But I doubt that even her great skill could save her – our best experts have reported that nothing of her mind remains…" The doctor was calm, contrasting with Naruto's agitated state.

Naruto clenched his jaw as he looked at the door that led to his student's ward. He could still vividly see her still and pale form lying on the bed. While he was prepared for the ruthless possibility that his students could be injured or killed in the line of duty, he had never expected such an awful thing to happen to Atsuko who was always very cautious and sensible.

It was cold comfort that his other two students Mokutou and Oita had qualified for the finals. Their haste in bringing the comatose Atsuko to the Tower had been crucial to her survival – it had been touch and go. Naruto wondered who was the attacker behind this senseless violence for the umpteenth time. Coming up blank, he finally said wearily, "Thank you."

"I wish your student the best of luck in her recovery. Your other students are in the finals, aren't they? Congratulations." The doctor said kindly before walking away.

* * *

"My condolences and congratulations, Naruto." Minato said warmly as he welcomed the jounin into his office. Naruto glanced at him questioningly, "Congratulations for what?"

Minato chuckled in amusement, "Your genins passed. They're officially Chuunin now."

"Oh. Right. That's great news…" Naruto replied absently as he sat in a chair across him. He was in deep thought and Minato was curious. He gently asked, "What's on your mind?"

Naruto jerked slightly, his cheeks turning pink in embarrassment for being so distracted. He glumly replied, "You read the report, didn't you?"

"Oh yes… That was a rather unfortunate incident. It's a good thing that she's still alive though."

"She's in a coma. That's not any better."

Minato calmly asked, "What did the doctor say?"

"She's a vegetable now. No one can heal her, not even if Tsunade was here." Naruto looked distraught at losing Atsuko. She was still so young... But if he felt so sad about Atsuko's fate, her family must be feeling even worse – Atsuko was an only child who had been born to 2nd generation shinobi late in life. It had been very difficult for Atsuko's mother, a kunoichi chuunin to conceive and Atsuko was all the more precious for it. Naruto did not look forward to breaking the terrible news to Atsuko's parents.

Minato was silent as he observed Naruto's defeated posture, feeling a twinge of guilt for upsetting him even though he knew that Atsuko's "accident" would upset Naruto. In his opinion, he had been merciful. He could have simply erased Atsuko but his love and respect for Naruto's fondness for his students stayed his hand. Yes, it was better this way – Minato gently offered, "I'll speak to Atsuko's parents myself, Naruto. I'll also compensate them generously and pay for Atsuko's hospitalization bills."

"You're really kind." Naruto smiled gratefully, his heart swelling with affection for the man before him. He shook his head and refused, "But no need, I'll speak to Atsuko's parents in person. It's the least I can do for Atsuko as her teacher."

"If you insist." Minato left it at that, deciding to change topic. Placing his hand on top of Naruto's and looking straight into his eyes, he said clearly, "It's not your fault that she ended up in hospital. Don't beat yourself about it. You know that it's a fact of shinobi life that we can get hurt or even killed at any time. Atsuko already knew the consequences when she entered the Chuunin Exams."

He leaned forward to press his lips to Naruto's lips for a quick comforting kiss before attempting to pull back. He was pleasantly surprised when Naruto pulled him closer to deepen the kiss, his eyes fluttering close. Minato idly noticed that he could count Naruto's individual fine eyelashes at this intimate distance before he too closed his own eyes to enjoy the languid kiss. It was a good thing that today was a slow day at work.

* * *

It was dim and damp. Naruto was ankle-deep in viscous water that sloshed and slapped against cracked walls with peeling paint. The water felt cold. He barely made out a huge door that he was heading towards. He quickened his steps. Once he was in front of it, he saw that the door was covered with complex seals far beyond his knowledge. Yet at the same time, they felt familiar like he had seen a variation of the seals before, a very long time ago.

Apprehensively, he reached out to touch the door handle and tried to open it. It was locked. Just what was hiding behind this door that was so important that it had to be sealed away? Naruto contemplated breaking down the door by brute force when a familiar voice interrupted him, "You shouldn't be here."

Surprised, he whirled around and saw Minato. Before he could ask what he was doing inside his dream, Minato was quickly in front of him and wrapped his hands around his neck. He then forcefully pushed him down to the floor and held him underwater.

Air bubbles chaotically streamed through the thick water as Naruto struggled fiercely to break out of the stranglehold. Much to his dismay, his struggles were futile. He panicked.

_Why are you doing this?!_

His lungs burned with the need for air and unable to help it, he opened his mouth for precious air and water rushed in. He gagged. The water tasted like blood. As he slowly and painfully drowned, his consciousness fading into the darkness, a beatifically smiling Minato bent down to kiss him, stealing away the last of his precious breath. As he blacked out, his murderer whispered, "Because I love you."

* * *

With a violent start, Naruto awoke with his heart beating fiercely in his chest. In an automatic reflex, he whipped out his kunai from under his pillow and stared wild-eyed into the shadows, his rapid and shallow breaths echoing in his ears. He also accidentally awoke Minato beside him who sleepily asked him in concern, "Are you ok?"

"…I don't know." Naruto couldn't stop trembling, a deep inexplicable fear gripping him tight.

"A nightmare?" Minato sat up, the sleepiness clearing away from his eyes to be replaced by concern. He placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder in a comforting gesture. Naruto calmed down and leaned heavily against Minato, craving for his touch. Minato easily took the kunai from him and placed it on the bedside table before wrapping his arms around him protectively.

"Maybe. I don't know. I can't remember what I dreamed." Naruto yawned, finally feeling drowsy from the combination of Minato's warm embrace and exhaustion; his fear ebbing away. Minato brushed his hair away from his cheek and replied, "It's fortunate that you don't remember the nightmare then, if it scared you so badly."

Naruto hummed noncommittally as he drifted off into sleep again, curling up against Minato's side like a kitten. Minato softly chuckled in amusement as he carded his hand through Naruto's hair. He fondly dropped a kiss to Naruto's forehead and whispered into his ear, "Sleep well, Naruto."

* * *

"Why did you suddenly break up with Kushina? You were all set to get married!" Jiraiya incredulously questioned an indifferent Minato in Training Field 7. Minato was leaning against the middle post, his white Hokage coat missing. He raised his eyebrow at his former teacher's exclaim and replied simply, "We simply didn't work out. So we split. People break up all the time, so what's so strange about us breaking up?"

"_Precisely_. It's _you_ and _Kushina_. You were the mushiest pair of lovebirds that I'd ever seen since your chivalrous rescue of Kushina from the Kumo nin when you were genin. Even before that, you were all crazy about Kushina. You were _engaged_, for crying out loud! What the hell happened between the two of you?"

Jiraiya waved his hand in the air, his confusion visible. He had been abroad for quite a while and had only just returned, not expecting to discover that in his absence, Minato and Kushina had called off the wedding and were no longer dating. The last time he had heard from Minato was his excitement about his getting engaged to Kushina. What the hell happened?!

Minato snorted derisively, "That was just puppy love. We simply discovered that we were not who we thought we were. We weren't as compatible as we thought. Does that satisfy you?"

Jiraiya cocked his head to the side, his mouth drawing into a scowl. He finally sighed, "If that's the case… well, it's certainly a shame. I was so sure that you and Kushina were perfect for each other."

Minato looked at Jiraiya from the corner of his eye and coolly said, "We weren't. Is that all you wanted to speak about with me?"

"…Pretty much. I just wanted to make sure that you were okay, what with, your break-up and all. Are you really okay?"

Minato allowed a smile to appear on his face. He replied, "Of course. I've never been better. Thanks for your concern."

His eyes gleaming, Jiraiya jumped to a conclusion, "You found someone else, didn't you? Who is she?"

"I'm not going to tell you. It's a secret." He tightly replied, his voice flat. Minato felt uncomfortable at the thought of having others know about his relationship with Naruto. It was their secret. Besides, it also felt awkward to tell his former lady-loving teacher that he was seeing another man. Who knew how Jiraiya would respond to that?

"Come oooon. Teeell meeee." Jiraiya wheedled. "I need to know! How else can I get inspiration for my books?"

"No. I'm _not_ telling you." Minato felt a cold chill go down his spine at the thought of his relationship with Naruto publicly advertised in the most popular book series in the Continent. His enemies could exploit his weakness by attempting to hurt Naruto, which was something he did not want to happen.

"My enemies would try to hurt my lover if they know their identity."

"I could change the names."

"No. You're not getting anything out of me and that's final. You're not allowed to write anything about me or my lover in those books of yours, is that clear?"

Before allowing Jiraiya to reply, Minato tersely continued, "Excuse me, I've been away long enough from my office." Then he quickly left the training area with a shunshin.

Jiraiya huffed and crossed his arms petulantly. He complained to himself, "Is it just me or did Minato seem a bit off?"

After a few seconds of consideration, he shrugged and walked off in the direction of the hot springs, eager to conduct his research and hopefully get some inspiration for his next book.

"Must be all the stress from being Hokage… Man, I'm glad that Sarutobi-sensei didn't pick me for the job."


	3. Chapter 3

**Warnings:** Dub-con, incest, violence  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. This fic plot belongs to me and it is non-profit.

* * *

**Tenebroso 3**

Minato was a man of few needs. Self-sufficient and resourceful, he did not desire riches or power – though he might now be the Hokage and spent more time behind the desk than in the field, he was still a shinobi. One who had honed his skill in the bloody battlefields during the Third Shinobi War and still occasionally dreamed of the faces of people whom he had killed, much like most shinobi. (Some did not dream at all. If they did, they weren't telling.)

This was also why he had fallen out of love with Kushina. His ex-fiancée had not fought on the frontlines in Kusa where the most violent combat took place like he had. She had been assigned to a relatively safer location near Mizu due to her secret status as Kyuubi's container as well as her Uzumaki heritage. Their experiences had caused their inevitable differences that could not be reconciled.

Minato still sometimes felt a lingering regret when he thought of the happier times they used to share. But it was nothing in comparison to the quiet and content happiness he gained when he was with Naruto. He felt complete in a way he had never felt when he was with Kushina - Naruto was a kindred spirit and his foil.

Even before he initiated the relationship, they had always been as close as brothers. Minato vividly recalled the irresistible pull he had felt when he first met Naruto in Kusa, so strong that it had rivaled his former attraction to Kushina. He had been too in love with Kushina then to realize what the pull meant. But now he knew with utter clarity that he craved…_needed _Naruto with such sheer intensity that it almost scared him.

Compelled to protect his claim, Minato unscrupulously manipulated people in subtle ways to drive them away from Naruto with barely a twinge from his conscience. It was actually a lot harder to curb his desire to spill blood especially from those who presumed to think that they had a chance with Naruto. He did not want Naruto nor the village to notice his actions; "accidental" deaths were far too troublesome and obvious as Tsunade's fist to the face over time.

Atsuko, Naruto's genin had been the exception as there had no convincing way of removing her from Naruto's company – she was not skilled enough to be a chuunin and there were no other available jounin to take her on. It also helped his decision that "losing" Atsuko would not be a great loss to Konoha.

Minato was roused from his train of thought by Naruto's warmth against his side – Naruto had rolled over in his sleep, seeking his warmth. He was now curled up against him with a serene, relaxed expression on his face. Minato could not help but smile fondly as he stroked Naruto's hair. He brushed his fingertips against the strong pulse in his graceful neck and murmured, "I'll never let you go."

Deep asleep, Naruto unconsciously leaned into Minato's touch, his head tilting as though he was baring his neck for him. The implicit trust in the small action was beguiling and Minato took advantage of it to lay a chaste kiss on Naruto's neck. He smelled like home.

* * *

The day he was supposed to be born came and went, and Naruto was still alive. A huge weight was lifted from his shoulders as he finally accepted the last piece of evidence that he was here to remain with a sigh. It was a bittersweet realization that he would never see his friends again – even if they did exist here, they would not be the same people he knew. Not that it stopped him from being friends with them again, when the opportunity arose.

Sometimes, when he was alone, Naruto remembered his original world that had been in the throes of war – it had been devastating and despite being the container of the most powerful Bijuu, Kyuubi no Kitsune, he had been hapless, unable to change anything. Bound by circumstances beyond his control and struggling to keep what he held dear, Naruto had fought so hard…only to lose everything.

When everything finally ended in darkness, Naruto woke up in a new world, alone and destitute. He lost even his family name Uzumaki as he painfully realized that he wasn't home and had no idea of how to go back. Naruto wasn't sure that even if he knew, he would have been able to – he no longer possessed Kyuubi and the behemoth effort required to return would have killed him.

Naruto keenly remembered the first time he saw Namikaze Minato, the man who would have been his father a lifetime ago. He wasn't Hokage yet and had not even earned the moniker "Yellow Flash" yet. An extremely skilled and charismatic jounin who had the distinction of being Jiraiya's genin student, Minato shone like the sun, his smile's brilliance and warmth dazzling him. The phantom he met in his mind long ago had been a mere shadow of the real person alive in front of him.

Of course, he was fond of Uzumaki Kushina, the woman who would have been his mother – how could he not like her with her friendly and lively personality? She was like his elder sister here and they'd teamed up quite a few times to prank their friends, especially Jiraiya when he was being too perverted. It was times like those that made Naruto grateful that he was still alive.

But now, the situation was rather complicated, to put it lightly. Instead of Kushina being with Minato, it was himself. How the hell did that happen, he had no idea. It all happened so fast and suddenly – shortly after their unexpected break-up, Minato boldly courted him, much to his shock. But he was even more shocked when he realized that he actually harbored romantic feelings in reciprocation – they had somehow grown from platonic kinship and respectful admiration without him noticing.

Naruto had never felt such strong desire that made his former crush on Sakura a childish and pale imitation. It scared and repulsed him. He also felt a deep shame – his persistent feelings were completely inappropriate; how could he lust for his _father_?! How would Kushina, his _mother_, feel when she knew? But eventually Minato's determination proved greater than his own and Naruto succumbed to his emotions. It was probably one of the best decisions he made in his life. He now wondered why it had taken him so long to give in – had it been the shame and guilt that were now distant memories?

He had no regrets. So what if Minato was biologically his father? It wasn't as though they were actually father and child in this world _(Naruto would never be born in this world as a result of Minato and Kushina's separation and he still felt ambivalent about that.) _Even if his new relationship with Minato made it difficult to face Kushina comfortably (he didn't look forward to the day she learned about their relationship), Naruto was happier than he had ever been, secure in the knowledge that he was loved.

* * *

Minato had been keeping tabs on Kushina with the aid of the scrying crystal ball. It was part of his duty as the Hokage to monitor the welfare of Kyuubi's secret container. Another very important reason for keeping such close surveillance on her was because of her high proficiency in the art of Fuinjutsu.

Aside from Jiraiya who was currently abroad once more, Kushina was one of the few other experts in Konoha as skilled as himself. This also meant that Kushina could break his seal on Naruto should she ever learn of its existence. This rather killed off any remaining genial feelings he might have had towards her. Minato would not tolerate any attempt to remove Naruto from him, even if she was his former fiancée.

Having already dealt with the other fuinjutsu experts by sending them to far outposts where they could not interfere, Minato could not do the same to Kushina due to her status as the container of Kyuubi. He had to keep her close within his reach. However, he still hadn't found a viable way of keeping Kyuubi in control in the event that Kushina had to be…_disposed._ So, he merely monitored her for the time being. When push came to shove, he would willingly do what was needed… Especially if it allowed him to keep what was _his. _

* * *

Kushina was in the library trying to brush up on her knowledge of Fuinjutsu, now that she had some free time to spare. She had been thinking of creating some new seals to add to her repertoire but she was a bit rusty now as a result of having no time to practice. She had been bogged down with a lot of administrative work in the I & T department and a long string of back-to-back missions.

Huffing in annoyance when the current scroll in her hands did not have what she was looking for, Kushina tossed it over onto the rejected pile and grabbed another scroll. When she opened it, she noticed some neat writing in the margins of the scroll.

Skimming through the writing_,_ she gleaned that the author was developing a new sort of seal based on the Heaven Seal _(where had she heard that before…?)_. But before she could read in further depth, she stopped in pained realisation. The writing belonged to Minato. Her heart squeezed painfully as a memory rose involuntarily in her mind.

Minato and she… When they were still together, they used to come here often and study seals. They often argued and Minato had a horrible habit of scribbling in the scrolls his observations and thoughts, forgetting that they belonged to the library. But now that was all in the past.

Stifling a sob that wanted to come out, Kushina rubbed her eyes fiercely and slapped her cheeks as she muttered to herself, "Come on. Focus. You are over the pansy now."

In her distraction, she missed a new presence approaching her from behind. A hand tapped her shoulder and Kushina's heart nearly stopped as she recognized the distinctive white sleeve of the Hokage robe. Talk of the devil.

"Good morning, Uzumaki-san. Hard at studying?" Minato's greeting was polite but it was so impersonal compared to the past. Kushina's smile was more like a grimace, "Good morning, Hokage-sama. Taking a break from work?"

A quicksilver smile flitted across his lips but his blue eyes remained cold ice, causing Kushina to think mournfully, "_Why did he become so cold?_" Minato plucked one of the scrolls off the table and skimmed through it before neatly putting it back with a dissatisfied noise. He replied, "Yes and no. I came here to take a look into the scrolls on demon seals. I wasn't expecting to see you here as well and I thought that it would only be polite to greet you."

"Demon seals? Why are you looking into them?" Kushina asked, wondering why Minato was researching such an archaic field of fuinjutsu that was incredibly dangerous if used improperly or by being ill-prepared. In answer, Minato leaned in closer and whispered, "To contain demons, of course."

Kushina froze, her eyes growing wide. Involuntarily, she touched her stomach where Kyuubi had been sealed into since her predecessor Mito's death. Her voice trembled, "What are you intending to do…?"

"Oh, nothing really. It's just a precaution and as the Hokage, I've got to be prepared for everything, even a demon outbreak even though that's very unlikely to happen. Isn't that right, Uzumaki-san?"

Minato smiled innocently and Kushina shivered, suddenly very frightened of the stranger before her. This was not the man she knew and loved. Perturbed, she swept up all the scrolls on the table into her arms and hurriedly excused herself, "Please excuse me, I've an appointment…!"

"Hold on, Uzumaki-san."

Before she could leave through the doors, Minato's hand grabbed her shoulder. For the first time, her skin crawled under his touch and Kushina had never wanted to hit him so hard before.

"You missed one."

Minato dropped the aforementioned scroll on top of the pile in Kushina's arms with a smile. Then he let her go. Kushina gave a sickly grin and whispered through her teeth, "Thanks, Hokage-sama."

"You're welcome." Minato watched her leave with a faint enigmatic smile. Once Kushina was gone, he took out the scroll that Kushina had just been reading, having exchanged it with another scroll. Concentrating chakra in his hand, he burned it to crisps.

Erasing his notes of the seal (that had been rather careless of him to not realize that he had left his writing in a public library scroll) would not necessarily stop a stubborn and curious Kushina who would definitely attempt to learn it, so he had to deter her with a subtle threat. Hopefully, his little threat would mentally disorientate her so much that she would not remember what she read in the scroll.

* * *

This time, Naruto was in a dark forest. It was night and the bare trees cast eerie shadows with their skeletal branches under the waning moon. It was eerily silent, devoid of the sounds of nocturnal wildlife with only the creaking of trees in the wind. There was a worn path in the ground before him that extended deep into the shadows.

Naruto followed the worn path as the wind cleared away the dead leaves before him. The shadows kept moving and twisting. He also thought he heard voices echoing in the forest around him but he couldn't be certain if it was his imagination twisting the sound of the wind into something more. Naruto quickened his pace.

The further he progressed, the trees became leafier until eventually, the canopy was so dense that it blocked out the moon. He could only see the path thanks to the abundant fireflies and blue luminescent fungus along the path. At the end of the path, he reached a moonlit clearing that struck a faint bell in his mind. He had been here before.

His feet led him to a tree. It was of average height, except that it had been covered all over with black seals cleverly disguised as the whorls in its bark. There were also deep gouges in the bark at his height. Naruto somehow knew that he had been the one to make those gouges. The black ink shimmered like obsidian in the moon. He hesitantly reached out to touch one of the seals but someone interrupted him, grabbing his wrist.

"You shouldn't be here."

Quickly turning his head, he saw Minato in his jounin uniform. He was carrying a black katana in his hand. Naruto asked, "Why should I not be here?"

Minato didn't answer him so Naruto tried to ask again - suddenly, there was a sharp piercing pain in his chest. He stumbled, collapsing into Minato's arms, wondering what the hell had hit him. Then, he felt hot blood soaking his shirt. With numb hands, he felt his chest and felt the cold metal edge of a blade protruding from his chest. In muted horror, he realized that Minato had run him through with the black katana. He weakly asked, "_Why…?_"

Minato cradled Naruto close to him and turned his pale face up to kiss him. Naruto couldn't breathe at all, his lungs collapsing and filling with blood. His vision swam. Before everything completely went black, Minato replied with a gentle bloodstained smile, "Because I love you."


	4. Chapter 4

**Warnings:** Dub-con, incest, violence

* * *

**Tenebroso 4**

Minato rifled through the book on bloodline limits, in particular the Uzumaki Clan's curious ability to control demons with their chakra, longevity and insanely high chakra reserves. As Hokage, he was privy to the secret knowledge that the Shodaime's wife Mito had also been Kyuubi's demon container. It was no coincidence that she was also an Uzumaki, the same as Kushina who was now the current container of Kyuubi.

Minato noted with some interest that the Uzumaki Clan were distantly related to the Senju Clan. Hm, did that mean that the Uzumaki Clan was also descended from the legendary Rikudo Sennin like the Senju and Uchiha Clans? It was fascinating but it did not hold much importance for him. What he was really interested in, was to find out if there was a way to safely and accurately replicate the Uzumaki's prodigious demon-containing ability in a person.

One possible method was to seal Kyuubi in a baby while its chakra coils were still malleable but Minato had limits. While he thought nothing of eliminating Kushina, he felt that sacrificing an innocent and vulnerable baby was too much. He also felt that risks were too high – the baby's conscious might be subsumed by the more powerful Kyuubi's conscious and that was a big _no_. So, no, he had to find a more acceptable alternative that would be secure.

It was a pity that so few of the Uzumaki Clan remained after the War. As far as he was aware, those that survived now lived in Rain Country. It would be a miracle if he could find a person who possessed the Uzumaki Clan traits. Or he really might have to rely on Orochimaru's genetic experiments that were a last resort. While the Snake Sannin had been a genius, his experiments were monstrous and had nearly brought Konoha to ruin. Minato did not want to repeat the same mistake – he would not have been Hokage if Orochimaru's experiments had not been discovered.

…Hey, wait a minute. Something about the description of the Uzumaki Clan bloodline sounded familiar. Incredibly high chakra reserves, longevity and demon-containing chakra? It sounded almost like Naruto's abilities, at least the ones he knew. He didn't know if Naruto could contain demons but his ability to wield Sage Chakra strongly implied that he was pure enough to contain a demon. His ability to regenerate quickly could be an expression of the so-called "Longevity" of the Uzumaki Clan. He definitely knew for sure that Naruto had enormous chakra reserves, the largest he'd ever known.

That was strange. Naruto did not look anything like an Uzumaki – he certainly was not a red-head and nor did he possess the knowledge of Uzumaki fuinjutsu. More than anything, he looked like a Kumo native with his blond hair and blue eyes. Naruto did not even possess a family name; he had admitted so himself with such sad eyes. Hmm… perhaps, Naruto was related to an Uzumaki but had inherited his physical appearance from his unknown father who was a non-Uzumaki. Illegitimate children with bloodline limits weren't unheard of after all. (Just look at how many cases of illegitimate Senju children there were all over the world, thanks to the Nidaime Tobirama and the Senju Clan.)

With a thoughtful hum, Minato put back the book on his shelf. Maybe, it wouldn't hurt to have an analysis of Naruto's DNA and see if he was indeed related to the Uzumaki Clan in some way. Of course, it would have to be done in secret. If he was truly an Uzumaki, that certainly _changed_ things…. If not, he would just have to go back to the drawing board.

After a moment, Minato suddenly chuckled to himself in amusement. It would be so ironic if Naruto was indeed an Uzumaki. He would have left an Uzumaki, only to end up with an Uzumaki in the end!

* * *

It was a beautiful sunny day with barely any clouds in the sky. Kushina met Mikoto at a nice little café for tea by the river that shimmered in the sunlight. Her four-year-old elder son Uchiha Itachi, was solemnly playing with the fish in the river, dangling his fingers in the water and watching them swim. Her younger son, three-months-old Uchiha Sasuke was sound asleep in the pram beside the table. Mikoto looked radiant as she warmly greeted her, "Hello, Kushina. It's been quite a while since we last went out like this."

"It has. We've been both very busy…" Kushina replied. She couldn't help but smile at the adorable sight of Sasuke peacefully sleeping in the pram and Itachi playing at the riverside. She teasingly said, "Your two sons are going to break many hearts when they grow up, much like you did before you got married!"

"Oh yes, quite…" Mikoto agreed with a soft lady-like laugh. Her black eyes suddenly sharpened and she asked, "How are _you _anyway? You didn't just call me out here for no reason, Kushina-chan… You have something you want to say to me, don't you?"

Kushina groaned and planted her face in her arms, narrowly avoiding the teapot and plate of biscuits. Mikoto had to strain to hear her mumbled words, "You're so perceptive as ever… I'm just… so confused and scared right now… Minato, I mean, the Hokage, he's so different now!"

"You still haven't moved on?" Mikoto raised her eyebrow in surprise. She had been there when Kushina cried her heart out in the privacy of her home when Minato broke up with her, much to her surprise. It had been so out of the blue and sudden. Even to this day, she still didn't know the reason for Minato's sudden change of plans.

Kushina looked up with a furious look in her eyes, her red hair flying with her sudden movement. She clenched her hands into fists on the table as she ground out, "I have already moved on from that damn blond idiot. If I haven't, the incident in the library would have been enough to put me off him!"

She wasn't soft enough and Sasuke was roused awake with an unhappy cry. Shooting her friend a reproachful look, Mikoto immediately cradled her son in her arms and soothed him with gentle pats, "There, there, Aunt Kushina didn't mean to wake you, Sasu-chan."

Kushina contritely apologised, "I'm sorry for waking your baby…"

"No, it's quite alright. Sasuke's quite a sensitive baby." Mikoto continued to hold her baby in her arms as she prompted Kushina to continue speaking, "What happened in the library?"

Kushina opened her mouth to speak before realising that she couldn't tell Mikoto the complete truth because that meant revealing the secret that she was Kyuubi's demon container. Repressing a frustrated groan, she explained, "The Hokage threatened me, that's what! I was just reading some scrolls on seals and then he came along. He had the audacity to threaten my life with a smile on his face. That bastard."

"…I'm sorry but I find that very hard to believe. Minato? Him threatening you? I just can't believe it. Even if he did split up with you, he's not the kind of person to go round threatening people, especially not his former fiancée." Mikoto sceptically replied, finding Kushina's words hard to swallow.

"It _really_ did happen, ok! Take my word for it. Have I ever lied to you?" Kushina protested, pouring her sincerity into her words.

Mikoto looked at her friend who looked so upset and sighed. "I think you need some rest, my friend."

"I'm not tired-"

"Kushina, I'm concerned for you because you're like my sister. If what you say is really true, I'd advise you to watch your step very carefully. I just can't imagine Namikaze-san threatening you…" Mikoto interrupted calmly. She then advised her, "Go home and sleep in early. You need some time to yourself. Go on a break, do something productive; anything that'll take your mind off Minato."

"…I'll try." Kushina sighed. Mikoto looked at her watch and said, "Oh dear, I've got to take Itachi and Sasuke to the doctor. I'm almost late!"

"See you later then. Thanks for agreeing to have tea with me."

Placing Sasuke back in the pram and calling Itachi back from the river, Mikoto replied, "It was lovely catching up with you. Don't be a stranger, Kushina."

As she left the café, Mikoto thought to herself, _"It's such a pity that they split… They were so wonderful together and their child would have been lovely… and about the same age as Sasuke…"_

* * *

Naruto moaned as he clung to Minato while he was slowly penetrated once again, his body easily accepting the invasion. The pace was slow as Minato lavished loving kisses on his heated skin, making him sigh. He loved it best like this, slow and gentle as though they had all the time in the world to enjoy each other.

As Naruto rocked his hips against Minato's, he leaned up to kiss Minato. Minato reciprocated by deepening the kiss and pulling him even closer into his embrace. Naruto let out a soft whine as a warm wave of sweet pleasure washed over him. It was addictive, the sensation of Minato around, over and inside him. Within that warm embrace, he felt safer than anywhere else.

"You're beautiful. I wish I could see you all the time like this." Minato murmured as he caressed his cheek, brushing aside stray hair. Naruto was captivating in his throes of passion beneath him, his tan skin and sunny yellow hair appearing almost like gold in the dim light. His lithe and fit body was like art, his lean muscles a silent testament to Naruto's strength. Minato found it especially attractive due to the curious lack of any scarring save for one on his chest.

But what he really liked most, were Naruto's bright blue eyes that were like the sky to his darker, ocean-blue eyes. They were unlike any others' eyes with their lack of artifice and expressiveness. Kushina's green eyes were probably the closest rival to Naruto's but they did not hold much appeal for him; he no longer found her appealing despite her great beauty.

Minato loved to see Naruto's eyes looking back at him with complete devotion or hazy with delirious pleasure as they were right now. The erotic sounds he made as Minato thrust deep into him were music to his ears.

"Nnnnngh…!"

Moaning, Naruto was overwhelmed by the mounting heights of pleasure he was experiencing. Feeling a heat coil tight in his groin, Naruto palmed his cock and began to masturbate, wanting to come. Minato grabbed his wrist and stopped him with a low order, "Don't touch yourself."

Naruto nearly wanted to scream with frustration. In the next moment, he was biting the pillow to stifle his scream as Minato stroked his cock as his movements sped up, amping up the intensity of his pleasure. Soon, he was climaxing with a loud yell and finally collapsed bonelessly onto the bed. He shivered slightly as he felt Minato release into him shortly after, a wet heat filling him. He sighed with sated contentment as Minato retreated from him.

Feeling too tired to bother with cleaning up, Naruto summoned the last of his energy to intertwine his hand with Minato's and whispered with a fond exhausted smile, "I love you, Minato." As he fell asleep, he felt an answering squeeze from Minato. He wasn't sure if he actually heard Minato reply.

* * *

He was at a beach with bone-white sands and the sky was grey with stormy clouds. The vast ocean before him, was slate-grey and its surface was disturbed by the strong gales that pushed him back slightly across the sand. Behind him there was mist, so thick that he could barely see a meter into it. Naruto glanced back at the ocean and decided to take his chances into the fog. He couldn't swim across that ocean.

The fog was cool and left his skin damp as he walked through it slowly and carefully. It felt oppressive, vividly reminding him of Zabuza's mists. He could only see white around him, not even his own hand unless he brought it very close to his face. Naruto felt like he had been walking for an eternity when cold metal bars smacked him right in the face.

Yelping in pain as he clutched his sore nose, he glared at the offending bars before him. Then he realised where he was. He was standing in front of the old cage where Kyuubi used to be kept in. It was desolate and the water was gone from the hall – wait, the fog had disappeared. Why was he here? Ever since Kyuubi was ripped from him, he had never been able to come back to this area again.

The cage doors were locked with a seal – upon closer examination, he realised that it was not the same Eight Trigrams seal but something else. Actually, the seal should not have been there in the first place at all. What was the seal keeping inside the cage? Naruto did not think he wanted to know, an uneasy fear crawling inside him. Yet, he felt a compulsion to know what was inside the cage, an insistent pull on him.

Eyeing the cage before him with some trepidation, Naruto decided to take his chances. It couldn't be worse than Kyuubi. So he carefully reached out and gripped the edge of the paper seal. The moment he touched the seal, a black liquid started to ooze from the floor. It was thick and heavy like tar. Quickly letting go of the paper, Naruto leapt to the walls and watched with horror as the inky substance began to spread across the floor and crawl up the walls at an accelerating pace. It curiously did not enter the cage.

Cursing loudly, he jumped from patch to patch of untouched concrete to avoid the sentient black liquid. He totally did not want to see what happened when it got hold of him. He had never seen anything like it. Finally escaping the hall, he ran down the corridor with the black mass right on his heels. Fuck, he shouldn't have touched the seal.

"Oh hell no!"

It was a dead end. Naruto glanced back at the black mass with a grim look on his face. It was bearing down on him at a ferocious clip, devouring everything in its path. Forming a rasengan in his hands, he slammed it into the wall, willing it to break. The wall shattered easily and it opened to a black void. Having no time to think, Naruto leapt into the void just as the black mass slammed into the space where he had been.


	5. Chapter 5

**Warnings:** Dub-con, incest, violence

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. This fic plot belongs to me and it is non-profit.

* * *

**Tenebroso 5**

He floated in dark empty space, unable to see or hear anything around him. It was just nothingness. It was also really boring. Flipping over to hang upside down, Naruto contemplated the mysterious mass of sentient black ichor that had seemed so intent on devouring him. What was it doing inside his mind? It had appeared when he tried to pull off the seal on the cage… Naruto straightened up with a serious look on his face.

Of course. That mass must be a defense mechanism of the seal to either keep him out of the cage or trap whatever was inside the cage. But for the life of him, he had no idea what could have replaced Kyuubi within that cage. All he knew was that it made him feel deeply uncomfortable. He also had a feeling that if he ever opened the cage; everything would change irrevocably.

Should he open the cage or not?

"Naruto, I was looking for you but I couldn't find you." Minato's concerned voice said behind him. With a startled jolt, Naruto looked at his new surroundings – when had the void changed to the beach that he had seen earlier? He blinked; his mind was a very strange place.

"Naruto?"

Naruto looked at Minato suspiciously and replied carefully, "Why are you asking me? Shouldn't you already know?"

"What? Why would I know where you've gone without you telling me?"

"Well… because you're supposed to be part of my mind, you faker. But you aren't. You aren't the real Minato either. You are a manifestation of the seal, aren't you?" Naruto calmly retorted.

In response, the fake Minato only smiled benignly. "Very good. You recognised me but this is the end for you."

"What do you mean?!" Naruto stepped back, readying himself for a fight. He wasn't prepared to see the fake Minato's blue eyes turn completely black like voids. He was rather freaked out as the imposter's smile morphed into a wide psychotic grin. Gods, he never wanted to see the real Minato go loco if he was going to be anything like this.

"This is the end." The thing purred sultrily in Minato's voice behind him and hot blood splattered onto the white sands. Naruto gasped, his head starting to spin as he stared in disbelief at the arm that protruded from his chest. He was too numb to feel anything; only a faint nausea as he recognised his beating heart in the thing's hand. He barely felt a brush of lips against his neck as he was pulled closer to the body behind him. His vision was going black…

"You're mine."

* * *

Naruto woke up with a splitting migraine. Feeling the urge to vomit, he dashed to the bathroom and retched into the toilet bowl barely in time. Even without looking, he knew that Minato had followed him into the bathroom as he heard his hurried footsteps.

"You alright? Do you need to see a doctor?" Minato asked in concern. Naruto shakily got up and moved to the sink to rinse his mouth out. He replied tiredly, "I'll be fine. Just get me some aspirin and I'll be fine in a short while. You know that I'm made of hardy stuff."

"...alright. If you say so." Minato reached out to brush his cheek. Naruto involuntarily stepped backwards, turning away from Minato.

"Naruto…? Are you really alright?"

"Yeah. Can you get me the aspirin now please?" He quickly replied, trying to cover up his reflex. In the dim light, Minato's eyes looked almost black and for some reason, he had been utterly frightened of him. Thankfully, the momentary fear only lasted for a split second and Minato didn't seem to notice his lapse. With a slow nod, he stepped out of the bathroom to get the medicine and Naruto slid down to the floor, feeling incredibly exhausted.

"I'm going crazy…"

* * *

"Where's that scroll?!" Kushina shouted as she rummaged through the pile of scrolls on the floor, trying to find the scroll with Minato's writing in it. She had nearly forgotten all about it until she read one of the other sealing scrolls on a whim. Even if she might no longer be with Minato or that he was now very different, it did not mean that the long years she had been with him were useless. She had some insight into how his mind worked.

Kushina now suspected that Minato had threatened her in the library because he had something to hide from her. Whatever the secret was, the missing scroll must have the answer. Growing increasingly frustrated as the pile of rejected scrolls grew larger, she finally realised, "Goddamnit, it's not here! That bastard must have replaced it with another scroll!"

Kushina glared at the offending scroll that she definitely hadn't picked off the shelves before tossing it onto the rest of the scrolls. She was going to find out Minato's secret no matter what! Especially if it concerned her and Kyuubi – as soon as she got the chance, she was going to kick Minato's ass for threatening her.

* * *

Due to Tsunade's medical reforms during Sandaime's time, the Konoha General Hospital kept a blood bank of all active shinobi in separate tubes. With advanced technology and medical techniques, they could artificially reproduce as much of a shinobi's blood as long as they had a viable sample on hand. It significantly reduced the risks of rejection and time wastage in finding a viable donor match.

Minato knew that Naruto's blood sample was already in the bank (long story) and it was straightforward requesting a DNA analysis of his blood. It was not an unusual request as there were often cases where shinobi might have children outside of Konoha. To ensure that the children were not sleeper agents, thorough background checks were performed including DNA analysis. It would take them about three days to finish the analysis. The reports were kept strictly confidential and could only be accessed by authorised personnel and the clients.

"Hokage-sama, your signature please. We need proper authorisation." The nurse held out a clipboard with a form on it. She passed him a pen. Minato smiled charmingly at her and was briefly amused to see her blush. When he was about to sign the form, he was suddenly gripped by apprehension. Did he really want to know the results of the DNA analysis? He had the strangest feeling that he might not like the results. Minato frowned. It had been ages since he felt this uneasy.

"Sir…? Your signature please."

The nurse's voice broke his moment of indecision. Briefly closing his eyes, Minato shook himself out of his reverie and firmly signed the form; "I expect a report as soon as possible. Do this with utmost discretion."

"Of course, Hokage-sama."

"Thank you."

* * *

Not giving up, Kushina relied on her memory to write down as much as she could recall of Minato's notes in the missing scroll. In the end, there were naturally many blanks but two keywords stood out; "Heaven Seal" and "bonding". Tilting her head sideways to look at the words, Kushina tried to figure out what they were referring to. Obviously, the Heaven Seal or some variation of it; was being used to bound something. But what was the Heaven Seal and its purpose? What was being bound by this seal? Why was Minato using this seal and for what purpose?

Narrowing her eyes in thought, Kushina intuited that whatever it was, it was a really big secret that was so important that Minato would kill to protect it. Despite the threat, she was determined to find out what it was and if need be, put a stop to it. She raised her hand to look at the engagement ring on her finger and said, "I wonder why I wore that for so long…"

With a bittersweet smile, Kushina gently took off the ring and kept it neatly in a box. As she secreted the box away in her drawer, she brushed the velveteen surface with a bittersweet smile, "Goodbye, Minato. Our halcyon days are over for good."

* * *

It was quite a pleasant day to be out doing missions, training or what have you but frankly, Naruto was too tired for that. Prolonged lack of sleep would do that to anyone even if you were an ex-jinchuuriki with Kage-levels of stamina. All he wanted to do was to take a nice, long and untroubled nap without nightmares which he couldn't even remember.

Nostalgia took him to Training Area 7, which looked exactly the same as the other Training Area 7 in his original dimension. He wistfully smiled as he took in the familiar surroundings before finally spotting an ideal spot for a nap.

He deftly climbed up the large tree and finally stretched out on the huge, wide branch with a content sigh. The sunlight was mostly blocked out by the thick canopy and it was cool inside the tree's shadow. It was a good thing that Konoha had so many of such large trees around. With a yawn, Naruto drifted off to sleep to the sound of rustling leaves around him.

* * *

A familiar presence caused Naruto to quickly wake from his slumber. With a glance, he surmised that he must have slept for at least two hours judging from the golden quality of the late afternoon sun. He looked in the direction of the presence and was not surprised to see that it was Uzumaki Kushina. She looked rather huffy and was venting her frustrations on the hapless wooden post.

Naruto debated whether he should greet her or sneak away; he still couldn't face her comfortably especially considering his situation. It was already awkward being in someone's presence knowing that you were banging his/her ex. In his case, it was infinitely more so when you considered that (A) that Kushina was his biological mother, (B) he was banging her ex-fiancee and (C) her ex-fiancee was also his biological father. Sometimes, Naruto really wished that he wasn't related to them at all just so he could avoid all the heartache and headaches.

A ferocious yell from Kushina and a loud crack signalled the demise of the wooden post as it splintered beneath her fist. Naruto gulped nervously as he realised that she was in a really bad mood (he would have been blind to miss the familiar angry glint in her eyes and her chakra virulently whipping around her in chains). Right, sneaking away it was!

Moving as stealthily as he could, he sidled down the tree and sneaked away from the field. Then Murphy's Law struck in the form of a loose flying piece of wood that hit Naruto solidly in the back of his head.

"OW!"

His head ringing from the blow, Naruto staggered as he clutched his head. Aghast, Kushina rushed over in the direction of the shout she had heard. She hadn't expected the wood to fly so far or that there would be someone else in the same field as well.

"Oh my god, are you okay?! I didn't realise the wood would fly so far… Is that you, Naruto?!" Kushina exclaimed in surprise as she finally recognised him. It had been a long while since the last time they met. The ringing in his head finally passing, Naruto hid his nervousness behind a smile.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine in a couple of hours. How have you been?"

"Gosh, it's really been a while! It's great to see you, Naruto!" Kushina grinned widely, genuinely happy to see him. Slinging her arm around his shoulder, she declared, "Let me treat you to tea in apology for accidentally hitting you! I want to catch up with you and find out what you've been doing all this while."

Naruto didn't have the heart in him to say no to Kushina's offer despite his desire to escape. He didn't want to see her disappointed face. It should be alright to spend a few hours with her as long as he didn't mention anything. With a faint answering smile, he replied, "Sure, it sounds like fun. I'll like to also know what you've been doing lately, Kushina-chan."

* * *

"How was your day?" Minato asked as he lounged on the sofa in the living room of the apartment he shared with Naruto. He had changed into casual clothes, taking the opportunity to relax in his home. Naruto was sitting cross-legged on the floor, cleaning and sharpening his weapons. Not looking up from his kunai that he was carefully cleaning, he replied, "It was fine. Nothing much happened… other than an unexpected encounter with Kushina. It was nice catching up with her even if it was a bit awkward..."

Minato stilled at the mention of his former fiancée. Naruto met Kushina…? He didn't like the possible implications of this occurrence. Thankfully, Naruto didn't notice his sudden unease and continued, "You know, we've already been together for almost a year…and I still don't quite understand why you left Kushina for me. She's a really nice person."

Minato chuckled and pulled Naruto closer to give him an upside down kiss before replying, "Why? It's because she isn't the right person for me. You are."

"Still… I just can't understand how you could leave your fiancée of three years whom you knew for almost your entire life for someone you've only known for three years…" Naruto looked pensive as he quietly replied.

In reponse, Minato tugged him into his lap to kiss him deeply and was gratified when Naruto melted into his embrace. Before things went too far, he broke off the kiss and said as he looked into Naruto's eyes, "There. This is your answer. I love you. It's simple as that."

Naruto blinked as he slowly comprehended his words and he blushed spectacularly red. He stammered, "O-oh…really?"

Pressing their foreheads together, Minato smiled slowly, "Yes. Really."

Naruto shyly smiled back, his eyes bright with love.


End file.
